


On A Hiding To Nothing

by Sashataakheru



Series: 1920s Taskmaster AU [2]
Category: Taskmaster (UK TV) RPF, The Horne Section RPF
Genre: 1920s AU, Gen, Greg is pissed, Greg's Special Boys, Jazz era, Kneeling, Legwork, Master/Servant, Objectification, Running Errands, jazz bands, light D/s vibes, weird shit idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23786809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashataakheru/pseuds/Sashataakheru
Summary: Josh is more than happy to go and do some legwork for his boss if it means he isn't there to be his whipping boy.
Relationships: Greg Davies/Josh Widdicombe
Series: 1920s Taskmaster AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708387
Kudos: 5





	On A Hiding To Nothing

"Josh! Get up! I've got work for you!"

Josh looked up as Greg stormed into the office, bracing himself to be yelled at. It's fair to say his boss had not been in the best of moods lately, and he had borne the brunt of it as his boss's personal assistant. After all, he got all the special jobs because he was one of his special boys. 

"Everything alright, sir?" Josh ventured.

"Find this bar. Right now. I don't care how long it takes. Take Jon with you. I don't want to see you until sunset, alright?" Greg said, slamming a piece of paper down on his desk with an address and some brief notes scrawled on it. 

"Uh, alright, but why do you need us to find it when you listed the address?" Josh said, asking the most obvious question after taking a brief look at the details he'd been given. 

"Because it's not there now, and I want to know what happened to it. There's someone there I need to have a very stern talking to and I can't seem to find them," Greg said. "Now, do you have any further stupid questions before I kick your arse out the door?" 

Josh got up quickly, taking the piece of paper and his coat with him. "Oh, no, no, definitely not. I'll go find this place, don't worry, sir."

"You'd better, or don't fucking come back, you hear?" Greg growled as Josh scampered out of the office.

* * *

Josh went straight to the mail room where Jon was sorting through Greg's correspondence. Josh wasted no time with pleasantries. Greg wouldn't tolerate that. 

"Jon, come with me, we've got errands for His Lordship," Josh said, gesturing for him to follow.

"Oh, is that why he came back in such a foul mood? I'd better get my coat then," Jon said as he set his work down.

"Don't dawdle, he's so pissed off today," Josh said, hearing Greg shouting his frustrations back in his office. 

"Yes, I can tell from all the shouting," Jon said, grabbing his coat from the hook by the door before following Josh out. He pulled the door closed behind him and locked it, slipping the key into a pocket. "Where are we going, exactly?" 

"We're going to look for a club, that's what," Josh said.

"Oh, right, there's only a thousand of those in London, sure. This is going to be a fun day, I can just tell," Jon said, and Josh could just make out the weary sarcasm in his voice.

* * *

"You don't happen to know any of these bands, do you?" Josh said as he drove, trying to find the intersection Greg had told him to find. He handed Jon the piece of paper Greg had given him which listed bands that he remembered had played at the bar last night. "Only I don't do jazz. I just go to the pub with my mates."

Jon took the paper and read through the list. "Oh, yeah! I know most of these. They do the rounds at all the jazz bars. In fact, a mate of mine knows Alex, the leader of the Horne Section. I've been to dinner there a couple of times. Lovely bloke. Might be worth a visit?"

"Sure. We'll see what's at the address first, then go find this mate of yours," Josh said.

* * *

The address Greg had given them did not seem to have a jazz club anywhere that was obvious. There was a small private reference library on one corner and what looked like offices and terrace houses everywhere else. Nothing seemed to match the description Greg had. Josh parked the car on the side of the road and they got out to look around.

"I guess we'd better at least see if he's got this right. Can you see any little alleyways round here? I can't," Josh said.

"Hmm, well, maybe we'll just walk the street for half a mile or so and see if we find anything? Could always ask anyone we meet if they know where it is," Jon said.

"I mean, that's a given, yeah? Never know who we might meet around here," Josh said. He sighed. "Alright. You take the main road. I'll take the other. Go half a mile each way, see if you can find anything. We'll meet back here in an hour."

"Sounds good to me," Jon said. "Good luck."

"You too," Josh said.

* * *

It wasn't a particularly busy street. At least, Josh didn't think so. But then it was in one of the better parts of London, so the quiet wasn't surprising. Josh was sort of familiar with the area, but not really. Most of Greg's work happened elsewhere. He watched Jon go before he turned heel and began his own walk down the street, seeking out any sort of tiny alleyway that Greg might have stumbled down and out of. 

The problem was there wasn't much else to see. These streets were narrow and short, and Greg did not indicate that it was anywhere on a main road, so he didn't bother with that once he found one. 

He did eventually find an alleyway, but it was just a short one down the side of a building, and didn't look at all like what Greg was looking for. Giving up on finding it, he headed back to the car, where he leaned against it, gazing over at everything. He hadn't even found anyone to talk to, so there wasn't much to do except wait for Jon to finish his search.

* * *

"Oi, Josh! I think I found something!" Jon called as he ran over to him.

"Oh, yeah? Where?" Josh said, running to join him. He didn't have to run, of course, but that didn't occur to him at the time.

"Just down here. Found an alleyway that might be the one," Jon said.

"Show me," Josh said.

Jon led him halfway down the street past another intersection, and there was a small narrow alleyway that did look like the description Greg had given. The only problem was, there was no club to be found. 

"Do you reckon he was mugged or something? I can't see how any club fits in here," Jon said.

"I really don't know, and I wouldn't dare speculate, not even to his face, right now. But this seems to be where he came out. So where did he go in?" Josh said.

"I really don't know. Maybe we should see Alex. He might be able to help," Jon said.

"It's the only lead we've got, so we might as well take it," Josh said.

* * *

Alex, Josh discovered, lived in a small modest house in Kensal Green. He let Jon take the lead, since he was already acquainted with him. At least Josh knew the area. He took a moment to look around at the neighbouring houses before Alex opened the door to them. Josh turned back to him, liking him immediately. He could hear children playing out the back, though their mother did not appear to be present.

"Jon! How lovely to see you. Anything I can do for you?" Alex said.

"Hello there, Alex. This is my colleague, Mr Josh Widdicombe. My boss is asking after Vega's Bar. He said you played there last night?" Jon said.

"Oh, yes, of course. We're the house band. We play there every night," Alex said. "Did something happen that I missed? Who's your boss anyway? I'd love to help if I can." 

"We work for Mr Greg Davies. He's a hard man to miss as he towers over everyone. Do you remember him being there last night?" Jon said.

Alex appeared to think for a moment. "Oh! Yes, I do remember a man like that. Hadn't seen him before and he was very tall. You don't see men like that every day. Seemed to spend all night dancing with Lady Katherine from what I heard. Why do you ask?"

"We're not asking, he is. We just got told to find the bar. You do know where it is, don't you?" Josh said.

"Of course. It's on Wardour street, just off Oxford. Got a bright red frontage. You can't miss it," Alex said.

"Well, we'd better go tell him that. He might want to speak with you too, so can I pass on your details to him?" Jon said. "It's nothing bad as far as I know. Like, you're not in trouble."

"Oh, that's alright, that's fine. I'm really only available on Saturday mornings, but happy to help if I can," Alex said. 

"We'll let him know," Jon said. "Thanks, Alex."

"Not a problem. Hope it helps," Alex said. 

* * *

Josh drove across town to see if the club was indeed there where Alex said it was, and sure enough, there it was, maybe ten yards down from Oxford Street. It did have a red frontage, which made it very clear that it was indeed Vega's Bar, and there was a single door that, Josh assumed, would lead into the club. Only problem was-

"It looks too small, doesn't it?" Jon said, reading Josh's mind.

"Yeah, it's too small for what Greg described. So if this is the real club, and Greg was definitely here, why is his memory not lining up? Did he get too drunk again?" Josh said.

"I would not make a call on that if I were you," Jon said. He knew his place, alright.

"Well, yeah, sure, I know, but still. Who's right? Is Greg right? Or is Alex right? Maybe we should come by when it's open and see what it's like for ourselves," Josh said.

"Yeah, maybe. We should at least tell him we've found it, since that was the job, right? We just had to find it?" Jon said.

"Yeah, we just had to find it. He also didn't want to see us till sunset, so I guess we've got the rest of the afternoon to ourselves, right?" Josh said. "I wouldn't want to turn up too early before he's ready to be disturbed."

"Ha! My job's not worth coming back early, Jesus. Let's just go for lunch and see if we can't track down any more of these bands. Might help us if we've got a few more contacts, right?" Jon said.

"Sure, why not? Got nothing else to lose right now," Josh said.

-

They didn't return to the office until 6pm, after the sun had set, just to make sure they didn't catch Greg in a bad mood. He'd be in his smoking room, like he always was in the evenings. Sometimes, he had late meetings, but sometimes he just liked to be alone with a glass of whiskey and his thoughts. 

Josh approached the door and knocked, tentatively, hoping his boss was in the mood to listen. Jon kept a little further back, watching. 

"What is it?" Greg called. He still sounded irritated.

"It's us, sir, we found the club," Josh said through the door. 

"Well, at least one thing has gone right today. Enter. Tell me everything you know," Greg replied.

"Yes, sir," Josh replied and carefully pushed the door open. 

Greg was seated in an armchair by the fire, gazing off into the distance. The room smelt of cigarettes and whiskey, like it always did. Greg was still all dressed in black, his suit crisp and his shoes reflecting the firelight. 

"Kneel. I have no patience for bullshit right now," Greg said.

"Yes, sir," came the murmurred reply from both Josh and Jon. 

Josh was used to this, kneeling at his boss' feet like a servant. Jon joined him, though he was more awkward about it than Josh was. He did his best to copy Josh's pose. Both men did not dare to look anywhere other than the floor. Greg shifted, took a deep, weary breath, and rested his feet on Josh's shoulders. 

"So you found it?" Greg said.

"Yes, sir, we did. Jon knew one of the men who played in one of the bands you listed and he told us where the club was," Josh said.

Josh caught sight of the way Jon withered at Greg's gaze, even though neither could see it directly. 

"And? What else? Where is it?" Greg snapped.

"Wardour off Oxford, about ten yards down, sir," Josh said.

Josh did not make a sound as he felt the heel of one of Greg's shoes press deeper into one shoulder. That was just how he was. He was also not surprised that, moments later, Greg kicked him back and stood up, leaving the room without saying a word.


End file.
